My Fiance Rigged the Game for His Bestie? I Changed the Groom Chapter 10
Madison had been standing behind Alexander.
The panic on her face was impossible to miss.
“I still left because of you,” she blurted.
The claim was almost laughable.
“You made that choice. What did it have to do with me?
“You said seeing Alexander and me together hurt, so
you wanted to get away. That still wasn’t my fault.
“And Alexander was the one who asked me out, wasn’t he?”
I genuinely couldn’t understand where my supposed wrongdoing began.
Whatever had happened to her overseas had nothing to do with me either.
Alexander looked at Madison, his expression hard.
Then he turned a doubtful gaze on me.
“Didn’t you post about our relationship because you knew it would provoke her?”
My sister Lily had been silent until then.
She finally snapped.
“She posted ordinary pictures of her boyfriend on Instagram. I saw them too, and somehow I survived.
“They weren’t private messages sent only to Madison, so she can stop pretending every part of Claire’s life was designed around her.
“You two have no boundaries, you keep clinging to
each other, and now you’re blaming my sister for noticing?”
Alexander drew in a long breath and looked at me pleadingly.
“Can we talk alone?”
“There’s nothing left to discuss. I’m not coming back.”
The moment I said it, Ethan arrived.
He looked as if he had come in a hurry, but when he heard my answer, a smile broke across his face.
“Shouldn’t you check on Caldwell Holdings, Mr.
Caldwell?”
Alexander frowned, confused.
Then his phone rang.
By the time the call ended, fury had replaced the confusion.
“Ethan Whitmore, do you know how to do anything except fight dirty?”
Ethan spread his hands. “It worked.”
Something serious had happened at Alexander’s company.
He had no choice but to leave in a rage.
He didn’t appear again for the next several days.
Then my official appointment arrived, and I packed for a closed training camp.
For three months, I would have almost no contact with the outside world.
The only exception was Ethan.
Every day, without fail, he appeared outside the
training center with food for me.
I told him the facility provided everything we needed.
He came back the next day anyway.
“I know you have food. I just need you to see my face.
“Otherwise, three months will pass and you’ll forget I exist.”
He said it with complete seriousness, set down the food, and left.
He never stayed long enough to interfere with my schedule.
Still…
On the day training ended and our final competition
was over, I didn’t see him.
The disappointment that rose in my chest caught me off guard.
“Claire…”
Someone called my name.
I turned and found Ethan a short distance away,
holding a bouquet.
When he reached me, he took my luggage as naturally
as if he’d been doing it for years.
“I found out when your team was flying in, so I invited
myself to pick you up.
“Come on. Let’s go home.”
I hesitated for only a second.
Then I let him take my hand.
It felt strange.
His ridiculous campaign to make sure I saw him every
day had apparently worked.
We stepped outside the airport and found Alexander waiting with flowers too.
He looked thinner, more exhausted, his eyes veined with red.
Coldness settled over Ethan. “What are you doing here?”
Alexander ignored him and looked only at me.
“Claire, congratulations. Your team won.”
I gave him a polite smile.
“Thank you. If I’d publicly lost to Madison at my own wedding, Team USA might have withdrawn my appointment.”
The color drained from his face.